District forced to adopt new way of buying buses

Sunnyside School District Executive Director of Business Dave Plesha informed the school board this past Tuesday night of a new method for purchasing buses.

Starting this fall, all school districts will have to purchase buses through the state vehicle bid process. Plesha told the board if the district doesn't adopt the new bus purchasing method, it will take several years to receive state reimbursement.

The state bid process for bus purchases doesn't begin until September. Plesha said the school district is set to buy 12 new buses over the next four years. The district just received four new buses this month.

Plesha said the district will see no great changes because of the new process, but it will change the time frame for when buses are received. Plesha said it takes about seven months for a school district to receive a newly purchased bus.